"Rogue Galaxy," an Action RPG By Level 5
 

Previews:
Here
And here!

I'm thoroughly impressed by this game. Supposedly feels a lot like a "spiritual successor" to Dark Cloud 3 (these guys made DQ8 & Dark Cloud 1 & 2 amid other games). You can make weapons and armor, have manufacturing facilities, bounty hunt, be a space pirate...

Yes. Space pirate.

Oh. Yeah. Another thing. Quite an anomaly from other RPGs as of late... But the main character looks fucking bad ass compared to others as of late.

http://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/ima..._screen005.jpg

Then a fellow who reminds me of Ioz from Pirates of Dark Water ;D
http://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/ima..._screen002.jpg

Wonderful music I hear. I'm downloading it right now... =d Anyhow, anyone tried an import? There's a review on gamefaqs that is VERY in-depth, informative, and highly applauds the game (but rates it a 7. wtf).

No news on American release, but since the previous games all came here, I think it is nailed down.

((pardon if there's a dupe topic for this but I ran a search under "rogue" and only picked up an OST request))

I can't wait to play this game, but I check ign and they said JP/Euro only... wtf?

how come they did all the translation (probably in english) and don't want to release it in US... this is just stupid... (but anyway ign was saying JP only for Grandia III too, so i'm sure they are wrong...again...)

oh and btw this should be int the RPG forum

It's a game and only for the PS2 >_> Kind of an anal specification.

I already got it. It's... good, really. Maybe you're going to love it, but I don't - something is stopping me from really liking it. Maybe the rather tiresome battles or the looo~ng dungeons are the reasons for this strange feeling. Dunno. I liked Dark Chronicle much better. (Why is it named Dark Cloud 2 in America anyway? >_>)

It's also an RPG and mostly RPG fans will be interested in it so off to the RPG section it goes.

I, too, really wanna play this game. Though I've got no desire to import it, I'm anxiously awaiting an American release. I've tried to email Level 5, but the only English portion of their website doesn't give any details as far as contact information goes.

Please, please don't let this skip over us Level 5. Pretty please?

That main character doesn't look very badass to me, but that pirate dude looks pretty rad. I haven't listened to the OST, but I have listened to the arranged album and it is freaking sweet. I liked Dragon Warriorquest 8 a lot, so I'll probably get this one when it comes over here.

I'd imagine that we're getting this title pretty soon if SE does the localization (which is highly likely after DQ8). It'll probably be a summer release.

yeah haven't really read much on this one, but it looks pretty damn good. I read somewhere though that this feels a lot like FFX (which I wouldn't mind at all). For those who have played it, is this true?

This is easily one of the most interesting games that I've been anticipating as of late. Graphically, everything looks awesome, and looking at the rather high Famitsu scores, I doubt that the overall gameplay will suck. Something to look out for, if it ever sees a release in the US or Europe, since it's been rather quiet since the game's out a few months already, you'd except an announcement already.

I've heard that it was getting a Jap/Euro release, but no US one. That's why I'm getting kinda nervous about this title.

Ahahahahaha, that would be PRICELESS. Hearing that, I'm feeling rather optimistic. Do you have a source?

http://ps2.ign.com/objects/729/729765.html Just look at their release date.

That wouldn't be priceless! It would suck! ; ;

It'd be extremely surprised if this wasn't given at least a speculative North American release at E3 this year. Besides, IGN is a horrible source to quote for anything.

Why would Sony pass on publishing this when its a spiritual successor to the Dark Cloud series. It has everything the graphic whores want from a visual standpoint and demographical appeal. Sony usually keeps their game announcements close to the vest and wouldn't shock me if they unveil it at E3 with a release date shortly after it.

I certainly hope that's the case. I don't want this to end up like Namco x Capcom.

US release has been announced.

http://ps2.ign.com/articles/703/703125p1.html

Not only that, but it's being improved upon greatly for the US release. One interesting thing is the games streaming technology has been so greatly optimized, it is said to have zero load times.

The improvements mentioned:

That's good news. I am definatly gonna buy it when it comes out.

Kick. Ass.

I've been hoping this'd come out. Even better, they're improving on it.

Well, that made my day! <3

I put my preorder in a few days ago, as it reappeared in our Coming Soon list at work. I'm still completely enthralled by this and I REALLY hope it does undermine Final Fantasy and Oblivion as the best RPG this year.

I've been waiting for some sort of confirmation for the longest time. Now I get it with news of really awesome improvements done for the US version to make it worth the wait for us. I would donate my body to Level 5 right now. ;_____;

This RPG looks pretty cool.. and LEVL-5 is a pretty good developer

Part of the charm of the game is the ability to not just travel between continents like traditional RPGs, but to be able to span planets. It's been hailed as one of, if not the largest RPG to date in terms of the sheer size of the areas.

This is some awesome news. I enjoyed Dark Cloud 2 a good deal and I'be been keeping tabs on this game for a while, but this news just made my day. I'm really looking forward to it.

Sooo... When is it due for release now?

They'll announce the release date come E3 in a few weeks.

Just read an article that touted October as the release date, currently =d

Hm. I need to peruse the E3 line-up.

Now as long as the voice acting isn't anything like the ones in Dragon Quest I'll be happy with it.

I thought DQVIII's voice acting wasn't half-bad ;( Some folks were lacking on acting, but overall, the voices fit the characters nicely.

In my opinion, at least :(

I share your opinion, Gechmir. I rather liked Dragon Quest VIII's voice acting.

so importers.. how long is the game exactly, and any sidequests worth metioning?

Rogue Galaxy
 

I've been exited about this ever since I saw the first info in Official PlayStation Magazine a while back. Dark Cloud 2 was so undeniably awsome that I must give this a try (over FFXII even). The gameplay and graphics look incredible (seriously the screenshots don't do justice, you have to see the videos on Gamespot and IGN to get a real feel for the graphics). I'd have to say that it's even better than hearing the announcement of Kingom Hearts II way back in 2003, since I don't have to wait for so long. It looks like 2006 for the PS2 is going to be like 2000 for the PS1, so many damn awesome releases.
It looks like Level-5 has the potential to be the Blizzard of it's field.

I'm surprised there wasn't a thread already about this game. I've been looking forward to it as soon as it was announced as well. I like how the US release is getting some extras as well. I really like Level-5's work, so I can't wait!

So many RPGs...

There is already a thread. It's just a little old.

I'm pretty sure there was a thread for this game already made at first to inform about this game but then it got very active when they finally announced that it was coming over.

I just heard about this game as soon as I started playing Dark Cloud 2 and I've been looking forward to it since. I'm still kinda surprised it took them a while to finally decide to bring it over. I haven't heard any new news on this in a while but I can't wait to get my hands on it.

NGA PLZ. I made the original =p

Merged threads together.

It sucks this game has to come out th same month as Phantasy Star Universe and FFXII.

I'll overstep both of those to play this lovely game. FFXII isn't high at *all* on my list. And unless PSU lives up to the original series as opposed to PSO's sort of playability, I won't touch it.

Still pissed that Square COMPLETELY ignored Front Mission V: Scars of War due to Kingdom Fucking-Hearts II.

I guess I was too busy eyeballing the OST request thread to notice the other thread :).

Let's hope it gets some recognition, Dark Cloud 2 proved that you can have a great game not too many people have played (I played the full $40 for it even, it it was worth every damn penny; yes I've heard of those sub-$10 snags many have gotten the game for). It would be a damn shame if FFXII overshadows it. Of course it wouldn't be the first time a great dev was shunned to blockbuster releases, but considering DQVIII, that might be enough to give it some recognition. The gaming press should really pimp this game to give it some help. FFXII and Galaxy, it's like they're trying to pull $90+ out of our pockets.

But what gets me so excited is the cel shading. I love how they make the characters look 8bit (in a good way fo course), but what intrigues me is the framerate; is this going to be a 30 or 60fps game (the movies don't give me any definite proof)?

Agreed entirely. FFXII can stay in Japan for all I care. Androgynous piece of shit is what it is. =O. Although, having never played a Phantasy Star in times past, I'd like to play Universe -- at least the single player campaign, so long as it gets good scores.

Rogue Galaxy's gonna be flippin' amazing, and it better not get shoved under the radar i.e. Dark Cloud 2. DC2 is still my favorite PS2 game EVER and I've got a sneaking suspicion that Rogue Galaxy will either usurp that or tie it. We'll see.

Fucking right. When I talk to people about my favorite developers, without hesitation I mention that I'll follow Blizzard and Level-5 to the ends of the Earth with blindfolds on if they wanted me to. If they collaborated, made a game, and only sold it in Hell -- well I'll be first in line.

Please dude, don't mention that. I break down and cry everytime I think about it.

Square COMPLETELY ignored Front Mission V: Scars of War due to Kingdom Fucking-Hearts II.

DON'T CRY. Let it turn into something else! ><
((Red Dawn quote))

SouthJag --
PSO was fun but it was, like, an entirely different type of gameplay from previous Phantasy Star games. I *highly* recommend you try 1-4. At least #4. 2-4 are for Genesis, 1 had some remakes at some point. But #4 is just fantastic. One of the best games I've ever played (it's up there with Shining Force).

Anime cutscenes in #4 = fantastic. The storylines are shown with hand-drawn anime pictures. They stack onto eachother and show other stuff as it progresses. Christ, I played all four of those through my childhood... Playing PSO was a gigantic let-down. I didn't read up on it a ton, just waited on "the next Phantasy Star game."

Now, PSO is a nice game. I enjoyed it. But it got too repetitive. The action-RPG style turned me off fast. Plus, the storyline was crap in my opinion. Haven't read up on PSU but I'm sure it's gonna follow the same action-RPG formula. So I probably won't even touch it.

Off the record, FFXI was a good game~ But I won't touch XII.

And I'm working on Emma's story in FM3. God. I. Love. This. Game.

I think I should get 4, despite the mixed reviews, then of course hello mission # 5.

Hey, I thought FMIV was badass. I'm an old fan of the series. The cutscenes are very slick. Action and what-not =) Plus the voice actors are awesome. The game is pretty easy until the last battle in the male hero's campaign. DAMN was that hard ><

FMIII & FMIV were both just as good IMHO. Best part of FMIV? No annoying-ass main character. Christ did Kazuki annoy the hell out of me. Not only his personality but how he *looked*. Such horrible character designs =\

FM4 wasn't as good as 3 IMO, but then FM4 still rocked. FM3 is just my favorite strat/RPG of all time. Between the two storylines, the fake internet and the great gamplay it rocked my face off.

I thought Kazuki was hilarious. Mainly because he was the angriest character I've ever seen in a game. A normal conversation with him went something like this:

Person: "Hey Kazuki."
Kazuki: "WHAT!? WHAT COULD YOU POSSIBLY WANT!?"
Person: "You need to calm down..."
Kazuki: "AHHHHHHHHHH!!! ALISA!!!!!"

He annoyed me something awful ;__; Ryoko is all, like, laid back and cool about stuff... And Kazuki would leap across the table and break his nose all like "SHUT YOUR MOUTH WHEN YOU TALK TO ME."

Bummer. Delayed till January.

Got an article or something that says that?

Just talked to SCEA.

SCEA? No idea who that is =p I'd prefer a link or something otherwise I won't buy into it 100%.

SCEA = Sony Computer Entertainment America

Geh...the thing tells me a need mroe posts before I am allowed to posts URLs or images. I have a working relationship with them because I work for rpgland.com

Here's the report I made on-site:

Aw Hizzle: 7.13.06: Sony has announced that the release of Rogue Galaxy has been delayed until January of 2007, due to the insane amount of changes going on with the American version. Until now, the game was to debut stateside this fall. For those wondering "what changes?" these include a new planet, over 100 new items, and a radically different use of the combo system. This information comes officially from the publishers.
9:07 pm/Central Time
-Heath

Makes sense =o The US version was being *really* souped up compared to the JP version. Well, if it isn't drowned out by the Squenix crap coming out around then, I'll be happy. I can wait a bit longer as long as this company gets its deserved recognition. That'll still be very very early in the PS3 I think so it'll still be available for a "living system" per se.

Hmm...to quote Stewie from Family Guy. In particular, the episode where he finds out Lois and Peter and trying to have another baby, and his reaction to it.

"WHAT?!"

Goddamnit. This breaks my heart, as this was by far THE major release I was waiting on, and have been waiting on for over a year now. Are they seriously going to delay this even further? Damnit.

The problem, Gechmir, is the other major release Sony has planned for Q1 2007 -- God of War II. And you thought KH2 overshadowing FM5 was bad...

It might also be somewhat to dodge FFXII (which is coming out October 31st), though no one will ever squeeze THAT confession out of Sony ^^

Jag, they're different genres =O That's the bottom line. Most folks will say "two RPGs? I'll pick the best one..."

At least, that's my interpretation. MGS2 & MGS3 didn't blow other products out of the water. Only ones in the same genre, which is few to say the least =p

They are different genres, but I've seen it all too many times. A lot of gamers nowadays won't just come in and say "What's the best RPG right now?" and completely ignore the action games. Too often they just want to know what the best game that's out right now is, and how much it costs.

If that scenario persists, it'll be God of War II ftw, I'm afraid.

I don't care when they release it, within a reasonable timeframe of course. I'll be buying it no matter what. Doesn't matter to me whether some ignorarnt, mainstream gamers get it or not.

The end of this year was getting way too crowded with RPGs anyway.

Rei --
The main concern is that Level Five gets its recognition. If this game passes under the radar, the American translators might ignore future games they release since they aren't as profitable as they hoped (ie: Front Mission).

Either that, or Level-5 will be have limitd publisher resources. As of right now, Square-Enix is the only other company they've worked with, and thus the only company they've established any reputation with. Now I'm not saying that EA, Activision, THQ, etc. need to be all up-in-arms with Level-5, but Capcom, Konami....even Nippon Ichi, Atlus, and X-SEED would greatly benefits Level-5's future projects.

I'd love to see a collaborative effort by Clover Studios and Level-5. OMFG GAME OF TEH YEAR.

I still didn,t see any link/source or any news that state the push back, so I still don't believe it...

I still want it for christmas!! XD

god this could be THE rpg that will be able to compete vs FFXII (even if i do really want FFXII, I do think that this rpg could be better!)

While I do believe Hindman's information is correct, even still I somewhat share's Inhert's desire to see further indication. Just let me see it appear on IGN or GameSpot, and then the tears will flow.

Edit -- As of right now, even Sony's website still has the date set for Fall 2006. Granted, that could be Sept. through Nov., so we'll still have to see.

that exactly why I still don't believe it, you know if the "report" came directly from sony, I'm pretty sure that they would have edited they website and "report" this change to the big videogame website and store...

anyway, I'm not saying that it can't happen (because i could understand that the changes in the US version could take more time and they would want to "escape" all the rpg release at that time, but this "that time" is christmas and they still will or would do big selling. well that's what I think...

so till any real annoncement, I keep my doubt about this...

It didn't come as an announcement, it came up in conversation about why American reviewers should not write further reports about the demos they currently have, and should wait for futher notice. In my case, I simply had the balls to ask why. And I got an answer. ^^

Kay well, I just wanted to reaffirm Hindman's statement -- according to EB/Gamestop's release date list, Rogue Galaxy is now set for 01.01.07.

Damn you Sony -- the fuck's taking so long?

Wow, that seems more like a placeholder date than enything else, but if it's going to end up as a 2007 title, something's up.

Let me trace back a bit...

As provided by Hindman at the top of this page. Hopefully that's all that's up. I'd hate for this to become the next FFXII delay, or the annoying Twilight Princess delay fiasco/series of lies. If they're going to add content and modify the existing content, then hopefully that's exactly what they're doing and why it's taking a bit longer now -- I'd rather not hear that it's getting a PS2 and a PS3 version for no good reason. :/

That kind of sucks, even though I wouldn't have the chance to play the game anyway. It's nice to see that there will be enough extras, although I'm a bit wary towards changing the combo system, since I heard that many gamers where quite fond of it.

I'll give credit where credit is due, and Level 5 has not failed yet. If they say they're making some changes to the combo system, then it must be for the best.

Level 5 knows what their doing people, relax. They are one of the best. It's all for the better.

The old combo system was a random fiasco, so rejoice, guys.

Fresh info on Rogue Galaxy for those who still remember that this game exists:

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/...V39297218_.jpg

Source

Impressions from someone over on GAF who was apparently involved in making the title:
Oh, looks like he's a GAF mod too.

Source

Heh, thanks MS... I actually forgotten about this game already *doh*
But now you bought it back up I gotta save money for that games release too.

So the release date still haven't change? Jan 2007 next year?

No problem, just thought I'd update this thread since I know some people are looking forward to this (me included).

And yeah, as far as I know, it's still slated for a January 2007 release.

This just gives me more incentive to buy the game when its released, instead of waiting for a price drop (as per usual).

So, GameStop just got a demo in.

::inhales::

Fantastic. Fan-fucking-tastic. This is, by far, the most attractively cel-shaded game [I]ever/I]. Level-5 did great with Dark Cloud 2, even better with Dragon Quest VIII but Rogue Galaxy looks amazing. The videos and screenshots, I think, don't do it justice.

Shitty thing about the demo -- it's a timed one, unlike the DQ8 demo, which just stopped once you beat a dungeon. They give you two parts to play through: the first has you walking through a village, exploring and talking to the people, opening treasure chests, and just getting familiar with basic controls. Standard stuff.

The second part puts you in a dungeon where you can participate in battles. Random battles are back, in so far as you are randomly placed into battle. You don't go off to a different screen though; it stays on the map you're on. You just brandish your weapons. Combat is fully real-time, and after you execute so many actions, you have to go through a sort of exhaustion period which can be sped up by guarding. It's optional, but you can turn on "battle suggestions" as a way to control your two teammates. They'll call out to you (whoever you're controlling) and offer suggestions, be it healing, using a technique, or magic. The suggestions can be selected with L1 or L2, if they have two suggestions. It actually comes in handy.

Another cool feature in combat are the special attacks. When you execute them, the screen changes and you're pitched into a button pressing mini-game quite similar to the standard combat found in Legend of Dragoon, wherein you press the necessary face button once it gets inside the box. Makes for cool stuff. If you screw up, you just get a "miss." At least, that's all that's happened to me.

When you die in battle, you're given the option to switch out the dead character for another teammate, or revive him as you normally would. I haven't yet discovered if you can swap out teammates at will, but I imagine you could.

Moving out of combat, exploration is set at a pretty nice pace. Your characters will walk and talk with you, reminding you of your objective and make general observations about the area. In the first portion, the gruffy pirate guy kept saying "Remember, we're here for the booster oil, not the Star God." The girl spoke up two or three times, commenting on what some NPCs were saying. The most notable incident happened after I spoke to one regarding some event in the village, and she perked up with a question and answer, something along the lines of "I wonder where she went? Maybe she went to the forest."

The music's pretty fantastic, if not a little on the loud side. Of course, I imagine you can lower the BG volume. On the plus side, it doesn't interfere with the voices, as some games lately have not bothered to increase the volume on characters' voices so they can be heard over the music. It's a good thing. Speaking of voices, I believe the guy who played Spike Spiegel and Vincent Valentine is also a part of this game, but I can't remember the VA's name.

Anyway, check your EB Games/GameStop locations for a demo. The demo's fantastic and has successfully revitalized my desire for Rogue Galaxy to finally see the light of a U.S. day. It looks awesome, sounds awesome, and plays incredibly smooth.

sounds awesome, I hope OPM has a demo of it soon

Will OPM even be around that much longer? Ziff Davis just announced that they ended their deal with Sony.

I just got a demo of it in the mail on Friday. It's not too bad, nothing mind blowing in my opinion but it's solid. To me it was basically Skies of Arcadia in space and Dark Cloud 2. I hated the fact that the demo was timed, I was in the middle of a boss fight and it just ends. One thing that did bug me were the so called 'live chat' where characters spout off one-liners that are supposed to help you. That's great except they would often say things that are completely irrelevant to the situation at hand. It just became more annoying than useful.

The demo also included a trailer which piqued my interest. I've grown weary of Japanese RPGs in that they are the same cookie cutter formula when it comes to story and don't offer much in character development or plot driven stories. I like the idea of exploring the universe, though I hate the fact that the space craft are litteraly sea craft that just fly. Unfuckingoriginal.

I'll probably pick this up when it comes out, I don't expect much from it. It'll be a solid game, but not something to jizz your pants over.

Oh yeah, the demo came with a pirate flag that looks pretty cool and a poster too.

Played the demo. I really hope they include widescreen in the final version of the game because it looks terrible if stretched.

how can I get the demo??

Ask for it at your local gamestop/eb games. The employee there will probably bug you to reserve it along with other titles, but they should have it.

Holy crap, I'll have to stop by there tomorrow. I've been waiting eagerly for Rogue Galaxy since it was announced, and honestly the description of Skies of Arcadia meets Dark Cloud 2 is exactly what I was hoping for.

http://rpgland.com/games/roguegalaxy...interview.html
Rest of the interview.

Higo totally dodged the next-to-last question, though.

So does this game have a more precise release date than "January 2007" by now? I'm dying to know when this will be out.

January 31st it should be in stores.

US will have it around 30/31 January, and Europe will have it sometime around 26 June 2007.

Only 6 months more months to wait. :(

I guarantee you that the sales will be in the toilet T__T They have dawdled waaaaay too long with the US cleaning up.

Sales figures don't mean squat to me as long I get to play the game. =( Apparently they've fixed this game up considerably from the japanese release.

Have they unveiled the US cover art for the game yet? All the online stores still the have the Peter Pan-esque Japanese cover. Or they going to use that one?

I just finished playing the demo, and this absolutely ruined it for me. I love the battle system and the game looks stunning, but this just annoys me to no end. I REALLY hope there is an option to turn this off in the retail game, because if not I think I'm going to pass on this one. Call me nuts, but I just did not care for this at all.

The "Peter Pan" cover was the one on the official demo sent to PS Underground, given out at stores, and sent to previewers, so it seems to be the one they're going for. Also, hot avatar.

After playing the demo for a while, I have mixed feelings about the game. First of all, the random comments from your characters and the "Jester!" shouts whenever they offer their combos are plain annoying. I can't see myself playing through the entire game with this constant blabbering going on. You know that it's going to drive you insane at one point when it's already annoying in a short demo.

Another thing I noticed are the extremely low frame rates especially during battles. Sure, the graphics are pretty nice (though they still pale in comparison to Final Fantasy XII), but they seem to come at the cost of fluid animations.

The "Peter Pan" cover was an observation mostly from a friend and I have no major qualm about it mostly haha. I assume there will be an option to turn off voices in battle even if its not included in the demo. As I can't imagine this being a dungeon crawler with hundreds of battles they'd want to piss off gamers to quit halfway through. Less than a month away!

http://www.gamestop.com/common/images/lbox/281546b.jpg

Final US cover art. No complaints~

Not surprised by it. That's what the demo came in too.

See also in this department: XS Games/Jack of All Games and their handling of the Red Star adaptation. The release date keeps sliding... first it was August, then September, then... repeat until you get to the current value of 'early Febuary. And for more fun, they don't even have the decency (or cojones?) to answer inquiries as to WTF is going on. Never mind that the game was practically done when its original handlers, Akklaim, folded up...
That said, Rogue Galaxy sounds like it'll be worth checking out; I hope it'll be worth the wait.

YouTube Video

This video shows off a bunch of features of the game. Maybe it'll help gain some interest out of some people who are still questioning what this game is like.

Wow, that looks awesome :D I was gonna pick this up anyways, but now I"m even more excited.

http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/929240.asp

Reviews on this are looking good so far. The lowest rating so far is by EGM (not surprising since they only rate popular game franchises high). The most common complaints with the game are copy and paste dungeon designs and the combat system not having enough to it. I'm guessing they were spoiled by the gambit system in Final MMORPG 12. Otherwise, this game only shows that the ps2 is still going strong!

I can't wait for the release date.

Yeah, for all the bitching that surrounded the announcement of the gambit system and fears of an automated FF, people seem to like it quite a bit. It simply got rid of a lot of the tedium that made leveling/exploring a chore.

As for RG, it jumped 5% since the last time I checked gamerankings for it. I saw some videos of the gameplay/intro of the game and it definitely piqued my interest. Got a strong Dark Cloud 2 vibe from it, and IMO, that's a very good thing since that was one of my favorite games of this gen.

BTW, anyone know how much this will cost? I heard it'll be $39.99, and that's a steal just like Okami was, if true.

It's $39.99, MS. And definitely a steal, at that. With all the added content from the Japanese release, they could've easily priced it up to $50 to make up for whatever labor costs they'd need to. But, Level-5 pwns n00bs, so there you have it.

SCEA published games always sell for $39.99 on the PS2. I wish Nintendo would do the same with their first party sutff. =(

Hmm, so that would explain why the Ratchet & Clank games were $40, among others. I agree, with the tweaks and added content they added to the game, they would be completely justified in bumping up the price for it. I'm sure that even those who were put off by this game's elusive release will be tempted to pick it up due to its score and price point.

If the other two did what SCEA does in this case, the industry as a whole would definitely benefit from greater sales for those games.

Buncha reviews:
RPG Land - http://www.rpgland.com/games/roguegalaxy/review.html
GAMEPRO - http://www.gamepro.com/sony/ps2/game...ws/94097.shtml
gamespy - http://ps2.gamespy.com/playstation-2.../756988p1.html
Gamespot - http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/rpg/rogu...ml?sid=6163987

I don't care what the reviews say; I'm getting the game regardless.

Gotta wait for the PAL release. :(

Not like the reviews are bad, but that 6.5 really stuck out. Looks like someone pretty much hated this game (even though the review, even the conclusion don't really seem like it)

And he gave it a 6.5. In my mind, a 6.5 is pretty average. Truly, anything beneath an 8 could be considered average. Maybe what he considers "above average" is 1.5 points lower than what other people do, who knows. His review is by far the lowest I've seen for it, and largely in the minority.

The site uses a *true* 1-10 scale. Mathematically, 5 is the median and is therefore the average. A 6.5 there is like a 7.5 or possibly 8 on, say, IGN (where a 4 is the same thing as a 1, basically).
http://www.rpgland.com/games/criteria.html

Looking around at other reviews there, they need to slide towards the middle (read: 5) for the most part. Most games are neither abysmal nor orgasmic, often sticking around average. Going by this, titles would seldom grace the high 8s, unless they were really something (read: near classic).

That would make sense of not just this review, but many others (Radiata Stories got an 8!?)

We fired that guy and are in the slow and steady process of fixes his reviews.

I'm not even kidding.

Maybe it's just me but I get the feeling this rpgwebsite is biased when it comes to non Square-Enix games. Maybe it's because of that Cloud image next to the logo. :3

I finally got around to playing the demo and all I have to say is "FFXII what?" I can see my hours slipping out of my hands when I can get a full copy. I say though, that demo was crap. I couldn't even level up enough to finish that big earth lion.

Added content over the Japanese version? :tpg: I'm buying it just for that to support this trend. Seriously though, I love the graphics/visuals and it sounds like there's just too much here to pass up.

I think that's the best spam I've seen in a long time.

Anyway, after a bit of a struggle I managed to pick this up today. First I went to Best Buy where an employee tried telling me to check back next week, because sometimes they don't get new games in until a week or two after their release. He wasn't too thrilled when I started laughing. I ended up having to kill an hour at the mall in hopes that Gamestop's truck (which was already several hours late) would show up, and luckily it did.

Can't wait to give this a try later tonight.

Ahh, the joy of playing a good game.

I'm roughly 4 hours into it, and I can't wait to get off work tomorrow so I can play for far, far longer periods of time.

Since it's not much of a spoiler, I'll just say that I've just actually entered and saved inside Burkaqua Village. I've spent a good bit of time leveling up my characters and my weapons -- weapon synthesizing fuckin rocks. I went from having "Hey, these are pretty good." weapons to "Holy shit! Pwnd." weapons in a matter of seconds. Awesome.

Any word on a soundtrack release for this?

Soundtrack for this has been out for ages =o At least the original JP version

www.gamemp3s.net

Granted, but I was curious about the American version's soundtrack. With a whole new planet added, there's bound to be additional songs.

Hmm... I doubt they arranged new music. If they did, I wouldn't expect to see a domestic release of its soundtrack. But, then again, maybe JP will release that... Since they're getting this in Japan as Director's Cut version (a la FFVII).

I am about 1 1/2 hours into it and I like it very much so far. Space pirate RPGs rock. Also, the fact that there are talking cats into it just make the game so much better :) I think this will be fun.

I'm about 5 hours in (just beat Jungle tribal full-of-cliches land).

The story and characters are killing me, they're really quite unoriginal (and I normally can put up with anime/game cliches). I rarely talk to NPCs because they have absolutely NOTHING interesting to say.

The dungeons are long, narrow, and very repetitive. Since there's no "world map," these planets feel disconnected from one another. It's like playing Kingdom Hearts, where you just complete a claustrophobic set of rooms and eventually move on to the next set of rooms (painted with different textures).

The camera doesn't really follow your target, so you'll have to manually adjust all the time, keep hitting R1 and hoping for a camera swing-around, or just slash offscreen (using the radar to see). I find I barely need to even see the enemies, because when you level up a little bit into a new area, you'll soon be able to take out a whole set of monsters (almost too) easily by spamming your gun instead of your sword.

The graphics are reasonably nice (not as good as FFXII), the music is very forgettable for an RPG, but the voice acting is above par.

If the RPG genre could be compared to food, Rogue Galaxy would be considered "reheated week-old leftovers". It might taste good from time to time, but it's really just some scraps that you'd rather not be eating.

I'd personally give it a 6 or 7, I can't see myself getting through the whole game without wanting to die.

I kind of like the battle system. The only thing that I think is totally disastrous is the menu design and that it takes ages to change equipment and stuff like that. I don't see any problems with the story and the characters so far (although there is a HEAVY Star Wars resemblance), but I'm only like 3 hours into the game, so maybe the downside is yet to come.

And yeah, the voice acting is amazing!

I don't have a problem with the characters or story. I'm midway or so through the jungle planet and I'm absolutely in love with this game.

If any game had a Star Wars reference, it was DEFINITELY FFXII.

The graphics in this are fucking unreal. I love all the details, movements, mannerisms, and the slapstick situations. Combat is a blast, and I enjoy the mini-missions/bounties in addition to the ranking system. Plus, later on, you get around to crafting armor and weaponry.

To boot, the skill learning grid is fantastic. I'm glad it didn't go the way of FFXII or FFX's grid-system and allow you to FULLY CUSTOMIZE your fucking character.

And the voice acting? OMFG. Great job, guys. They nailed the voices. Perfectly

I love this game. It's fantastic =) Period.

I have a big problem with the jungle planet's storyline.


ARG it's just annoying, because I expected at least some innovation, story-wise. This is a game dealing with the vast openness of the universe and yet each planet is boiled down to a single genre (the "desert" planet, the "jungle" planet, etc...) and you only walk down corridors until you reach your next mission.

I'm roughly 18 hours into the game -- yeah, I had an off day from work. Ahem.

I'm definitely loving this game. Like you all've said before me, the voice acting is top-shelf work, and the graphics and art style of the game are truly something admirable. Arguably, this game's best feature is the battle system, which is why I've spent the better part of 18 hours just grinding out level by level.

Heard some comparisons between the battles in FF12 and Rogue Galaxy, and while there are some similarities, there are also very distinct differences. FF12's Gambit system acts more like...programmable AI. "For every event 'X', react with action 'Y'." That's essentially the Gambit system. In Rogue Galaxy though, it feels a lot more like an MMO than FF12 does, since the battle suggestions feel a bit more realistic.

Between Rogue Galaxy and FF12, I definitely prefer Rogue Galaxy. Travelling is quite a bit easier thanks to the teleportation system, and while that's extremely similar to FF12's, it's a lot more user-friendly, for lack of a better phrase. FF12's teleport-enable save points are scattered few and far between, but RG's are...well, every save point. It also makes grinding out levels and weapon levels a lot easier too, what with their being four or five save points in every dungeon. It might make the game easier, but the game itself is no cakewalk.

So yeah the story's a little cookie-cutter and so are the characters. Jaster longs of going into space, Zegram the eye-patch wielding lone-wolf mercenary, Kisala the daughter of the infamous space pirate captain, etc. etc. But that's not to say it's a boring story either.

The music is rather forgettable too, however for those who've played Dark Cloud 1 and 2, it's also quite familiar. I suppose this kind of music will be one of Level-5's trademarks.

Yeah, the cutscenes are some of the best I've seen in my life. The scene in the desert at the beginning was just awesome.

Like SouthJag, I am actually trying to explore every single space on the map to make sure I can run into as many battles as possible, because they are so cool, while in other RPGs, I often find myself thinking "oh damn not another battle =/", so it's quite cool, so far.

Nothing spoilertastic really. More of a...just in case. Anyway, I'm gathering up a bunch of Revelation Flow items, zehn, and weapon levels at the moment. I'll probably stay on that stretch until I get every weapon I've got upgraded and combined, just because right now the spot I'm in is too convenient to pass up.

Well, I'm somewhat surprised that theres so little talk about this game going on. I, for one, am having a fantastic time with it. Yes, the dungeons are fairly bland, but really, who gives a damn? I'm just glad to be playing a game where your a space pirate!

Besides all that, the weapon creation and revelation systems are really addictive. I can find myself spending half my playtime in one sitting on those two things alone.

And finally, I'm just glad to be supporting Level 5 by purchasing this game. Really, they are a bunch of fantastic developers, and I believe they will get even better with time.

It's an awesome game, but unfortunately it turned out to also be one that triggers my motion sickness. That limits the times I can play it, so I haven't been able to put as much work into it as I'd like.

So far my only complaint is the camera angles during battle. Sometimes it takes a minute just to FIND the enemy. Everything else about the game is pure love.

You know what though, Tritoch? I don't even bother with trying to find them. Illusion Sword <3

Illusion Sword <3 use this tech and kill the bosses with it. I picked this game up after it shipped I'm enjoying it so far.

Yeah, you often don't know where they come from, but that's okay, I got used to it. The first two chapters were pretty awesome, I hope the rest is super as well and that people I talked to are not right by saying it's one of the biggest hypes in RPG history

I dunno about ya'll, but despite the cookie-cutter like stories (predictable to an extent), the way it wrapped up Vedan (Ch 6 I think?) is brilliant. Felt like the ending to the game from the skill they wrapped into it. I also like the new recurring boss of sorts, Seed =D REMINDS ME OF ZEIRAM (the mask part that is lol)!

Looks like this game currently has a rating of 85% on Game Rankings after 29 reviews. That seems pretty solid to me... I was really surprised to see Gamepro give it a 5/5 though.

I've kinda changed my opinion on this game after playing it for 15 more hours (20 total now).

It's highly addictive because I LOVE the fact that you can't miss anything. You can always go back for something you forgot to pick up, and you don't need a guide when combining items. You'll always end up with a stronger weapon. SMART MOVE, FACTOR 5.

Chapter 6 actually had a good story. I can't say that for the other chapters (they're still pretty cliche, and I still hate the jungle planet), but the gameplay is captivating enough for us stat-freaks to enjoy.

While I thought the game was around a 6 or 7, I'd place it in the 8.5 or 9.0 mark now.

This shit is like drugs for me. I've literally ceased all forward progress in my obsession to see most everyone's weapons. The only thing that irritates me about that is how they're often scattered across several planets. Makes tracking down a required weapon a bit on the tedious side.

I agree that the end of Chapter 6 was pretty well done. BTW, when I didn't have the necessary weapon to continue synthesizing, I would just fuse with the strongest one I had available and would get something far more powerful. Unfortunately, the downside to my little experimentation is that it doesn't get recorded in the Frog Log so you wind up forgetting how to make it until you get it the legit way.

Actually Jazz, Factor 5 is the developer of Lair for the PS3, among other things. The incredibly talented studio behind Rogue Galaxy is Level-5. Either way, glad to see you've raised your opinion on the game. :D

Ack, damn numbers have to be the same, don't they.

It'd be easier if one company was horrible, I'd be able to remember them better.

Being a big fan of Dark Cloud 2, I got this game and expected it to be as good. What I got though, is something beyond all expectations. This game is all kinds of awesome with a dash of godliness on the side.

The only armor I've found so far, besides the default, is the tribal armor. I was wondering if anyone knew if I was missing a suit anywhere.



Thanks in advance.

You can buy a costume for the hacker in a shop next to the fountain in Zerard for 7k. Don't know of any others since I am only just after you get your factory in my game.

You get one for Simon after you beat the Quarry out in the Rose Nebula, and one in that cave where tablet was (on Vedan).

I just started playing the game today and it's entertaining.



I'm certainly not playing it for the story or characters as they're both about as cookie-cutter as you can get. Very disappointing. On the other hand, the battle system is good fun and I'm having a blast combining things. I'm not sure if I'll go all the way through the game as I doubt the story will keep me interested for long but it's fun while it lasts.

Is there any way to mess up getting the ultimate weapons for each character through item synthesis? I'm asking because I'd like to get them, but I don't really feel like resorting to a guide. Rogue Galaxy seems to be a very forgiving game where you don't need to search too much to find the secrets (although I'm still on the jungle planet).

Nope, the game is very forgiving about that. I'm probably near the end and the only qualm I have with the weapons thing is the fucking run around some of the characters' gear makes you do.

Never a good player of RPG but this game is an exception, all credit goes to realtime battles that are very fluid and addictive.

Level 5 did a great job on

1. Graphics(aesthetically beautiful, specially Zerard architecture).
I am impressed with seamless transition between worlds , rooms, no loading times.

2. Music, loved every single track, they are full of emotions even though story lacks emotion. Only if this game had better story and non-stupid characters like sharks,cats...but they add humour and their presence is intentional.

I have full confidence on Level 5 music and graphics department, they will surely blow me with Whiteknight in Nextgen way. Hope they will release demo on PS3 this year like FF13.

Just recently started playing this without any bigger expectations.
I am seriously impressed at everything this game's thrown at me up until now, from the cutscenes to the dialogue. And more importantly, the battle system is extremely fun unlike ff12 :tpg:.

Everything tags along smoothly, accompanied by a great soundtrack and stunning visuals. The games breathes quality.

Well, I must say that I am pretty disappointed after all. The first couple of hours were pretty awesome, the cutscenes were pretty much phenomenal, but as for everything else, it just got very repetitive and very boring. Additionally, the menus are a catastrophy. If you want to equip an armor for instance, it takes like half a minute to do so. It is quite complicated, which doesn't make things better :(

Rogue Galaxy was cool up until chapter 6, where the developers decided it'd be a great idea to use the gimmick used on the boss for chapter 5 for just about every single random battle that occurs. Horrible, horrible game design. I overlooked the other game balance issues because I really wanted to like the game, but having my characters completely raped endlessly unless I play with the menus every other second in an action RPG really fucks with the pacing, you know? Especially since they can't do anything at all due to stupid gameplay gimmicks like LOLSHIELDS.

Great characters, nice atmosphere, and fantastic graphics, all ruined by bad game design, and from what I hear, mediocre story-telling that has no sense of focus. Sorry Level 5, but I'm no longer interested in White Knight Story. I don't care how cool the trailer looked... if a game isn't fun and the story isn't worth a damn, what's the point.

This game is lots of fun. I seem to be way overlevelled though because I spent a few hours here and there building weapons up and hunting monsters for revelation items.

How long does it take to go through that 100 level dungeon?

Quite some time.

It's apparently similar to Star Ocean 3's Sphere Corp tower; nearly 200 floors and a shitload of area to explore each floor.

Nonetheless, I plan to stick to it since I get a costume on the first round and another one on the second finish. Since I literally got the most powerful sword right now (acquired post-game), won't be much of a problem going through it ALL.

Now, to complete the frog log is another story though since I want an alternate costume for Zegram.

I'm seriously impressed with this game. I expected the gameplay to be like Dark Cloud 2 (which isn't a bad thing), but it's so totally different.

It's already pretty obvious that you are going to spent more time doing all the optional stuff then the actual story bits, but that's the thing, you don't mind at all. Yesterday I spent like 3 hours getting all those optional hunting monsters in 1 area, but at the same time I was leveling up my weapons so i could create a better one. It all works out.

I'm using Zegram and Kisala all the time. I like those two. I'm a little worried about Zegram though...Hope he doesn't pull a Leon, because that would piss me off big time.

Anyway...I talked to MIO the other day and saw a lot of crap you can do. One of them was filling the Frog Log...now this part I dont get. I made plenty of different weapons, but so far only one combo showed up. Is it certain weapons you have to mix to show up on the frog log? That's gonna be a pain if it is.

If you´ve mastered a Weapon (Skill Max only, so you can combine it - you don´t need to push every elemetal status to the max) you can analyse a weapon in the frog menu. The frog will now tell you a recommended weapon for the combo - if you have the appropriate item you´ll have a special combo ("Now that´s what I call a masterpiece" instead of "Voila, it´s been fused"). Only special combos are recorded in the frog log.

I knew about all of that, except of the analyse option. If only i'd known about this ages ago. =/